Harry Reid: “like many Americans, I listened carefully to the President's Iraq speech last night. As I said in a letter to him…”

“like many Americans, I listened carefully to the President's Iraq speech last night. As I said in a letter to him yesterday prior to his speech, his address to the Nation afforded him an excellent opportunity to present to the American people his plan for success, to discuss the costs and sacrifices that will be required in the days ahead, and to assure our troops, active and retired, that he is committed to doing everything he possibly can to see that they get the services they have earned. Unfortunately, I believe the President's address fell short on all of those accounts, and I will have more to say in the days and weeks ahead about the speech and the path forward in Iraq. But having said this, there is one part of the President's address that bears directly on my letter and the matters before the Senate right now. At the end of his speech, the President called on Americans to find a way to thank the men and women defending our freedom by flying a flag, sending letters to our troops in the field, helping the military families down the street, or going to the new Defense Department Web site. I think we owe the men and women in uniform--of course we owe them flying flags, mailing letters, and logging on to this new DOD Web site, but we owe them far more than that. I share and support the sentiment and will continue to make sure we recognize the services and sacrifices of our military personnel and their families.…”